


Arthur's Revenge (Your Song)

by destroyerofhearts



Series: Camelot High [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Cheesy, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Moulin Rouge References, Silly, Valentine's Day, serenades
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-23 18:40:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9671162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destroyerofhearts/pseuds/destroyerofhearts
Summary: Determined to get Merlin back for the humiliating spectacle that was the previous Valentine's Day, Arthur plots his revenge.But Merlin has a surprise in return.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! Really wanted to do a Val Day fic (non fest related) and I thought I'd revisit this fun AU from late last year! This popped into my head and tbh I have wanted to come back and write a little more about these two boys as teachers, so here we are.
> 
> Hoping this works as a standalone fic! But if you wanna read the [long haul](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8441443) you can find it under the 'Camelot High' series I've created. And just for a little bit of context: 
> 
> it's a tradition at Camelot High to celebrate Valentine's by sending roses and serenades to other students for a small amount of money. these are done anonymously and you can send as many as you wish. while roses are nice and exchanged between friends and significant others, serenades are often bought as a joke to embarrass the other person. 
> 
> Enjoy, and may you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day :D

Arthur had waited a year for this moment, and it had finally come.

It didn't matter that it was the most romantic day of the year, and that he was finally in a serious, long term, committed relationship with a man he loved dearly. Nor did it matter that they would go out on a date night together to see 'Moulin Rouge!' at the theatre, even if they broke up over what Arthur had planned.  But that didn't stop him, oh, no. He would have his revenge.

For the past year he had been tormented by Morgana who had used the video Merlin took of him being serenaded to, wearing a plastic tiara and a pink feather boa, as blackmail. Oh, the pain and agony he had suffered as he was humiliated in front of all his family at the Pendragon annual family reunion!

It was with great glee that he had slipped out of the staffroom during one lunchtime to drop an envelope with $5 into the box titled 'Camelot High's Valentine's Roses and Serenades'. On said envelope was a detailed list of information.  

> 1 Serenade for Mr Emrys
> 
> Lunchtime, in front of as MANY people as possible (will help to gather crowds).
> 
> The most embarrassing song you can sing, please. Justin Bieber's 'Baby' would be a perfect choice.
> 
> He must wear a feather boa and some other humiliating form of headwear. I saw that hideous red cowboy hat with the tiara from last year. It's perfect.
> 
> Show. No. Mercy. 

Arthur giggled in delight as he sauntered off to his classroom, thrilled that things were finally about to come full circle.

\---

Once he'd finished marking books on the Monday afternoon prior to Valentine's day, he headed down to the drama department, eager to seek out Merlin so that they could go home.

He found him, of course, looking damn fine in some tight trousers and a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His attention was focussed towards some senior students with whom he was having a quiet discussion with. Arthur waited a moment, before clearing his throat to announce that he had arrived.

Merlin spun around, a surprised look on his face but he beamed at Arthur anyway. His heart melted at the sight.

"Pendragon! We're just about done here. Was there anything else you needed to know?" he asked his students.

The students shook their heads and quickly scuttled from the room, amused expressions on their faces. Though the couple wasn't allowed to fraternise on school grounds, most of the student body had figured things out rather quickly and adored the pairing. 

"Hello, Emrys," Arthur grinned, moving forward into the room as Merlin gathered his things. 

"I hope you've finished your work. I don't particularly fancy spending our date night working in your history prep room. If you haven't, I think I'll just go and see the musical on my own and leave you to suffer," Merlin said, still moving things around on his desk.

"You romantic," Arthur muttered sarcastically. "I have finished, and besides, that was one time. And partly your fault, too," Arthur pointed out, moving closer to Merlin.

The other man opened his mouth to argue back but was stopped when Arthur wrapped his strong arms around him and nosed at the nape of his neck.

"A-Arthur, not at work," Merlin gasped, letting out a sigh when Arthur gently began to kiss his neck.

"Then hurry up and finish packing up already," Arthur mumbled into Merlin's neck.

"Then you ought to let go of me otherwise we'll never get out of here," he said, trying to move from Arthur's grasp. Arthur let him.

"Fine. I have to grab my stuff from the history rooms anyway. Meet you at the car?"

"Of course," Merlin smiled, and Arthur leaned in to gently brush a kiss against his cheek. When he pulled away, Merlin was blushing, scandalised.

"Get to the car, you," he grumbled, pushing him towards the door. Arthur batted his arms away, perfectly capable of walking on his own, but he couldn't resist blowing Merlin a kiss as he walked away. Merlin scowled in response, but the expression fell away to something akin to fondness as the blond left.

\---

"Happy Valentine's Day, love." 

Arthur moaned, turning his face into his pillow. Beside him, Merlin chuckled.

"Up you get, lazy daisy! C'mon, we have work and I thought we could shower together," he nudged Arthur, trying to motivate him to get up. 

At the promise of sex, Arthur turned his head, opening an eye to glance at Merlin. He was smiling the sweet, adoring smile that he only seemed to save for these private, domestic moments between them. His hair was sticking up, there was a little bit of stubble along his jaw and truthfully, Arthur thought he had never looked more perfect.

"When you put it like that..." Arthur smirked, moving so he was leaning over Merlin, and pulling him into a kiss. He tasted of morning breath; they both did; but Arthur just couldn't help himself.

He may have plotted his revenge against him, but he did love the man rather dearly. Merlin pushed him off, getting up and tugging Arthur along to the bathroom for a rather wonderful start to the day.

\---

Arthur was aware of the fact that he was wearing a rather smug smile on his face, instead of a more gooey, loved up on. No one else seemed to notice; no one except Morgana, of course.

"You're looking far too pleased with yourself today, Arthur," she commented, taking a sip of her coffee as Arthur gazed out the window of the staffroom.

"Aren't I allowed to be happy?"

"Yes, but this isn't your 'loved up with Merlin' face. Nor is it the usual glee you get when you're excited to see a professional musical, and I know you're seeing 'Moulin Rouge!' tonight. It's something else, more reminiscent of..." she trailed off, flinging her free hand around as she tried to figure it out. Arthur tried to ignore her as she ran over the options in her head, taking a sip of his own coffee.

"Oh, I know! Back in the day, when you'd pull a prank on Merlin...wait, hang on? Arthur Pendragon, what exactly have you done?" she asked, pressing a finger into his chest.

"Nothing bad, I promise. It's just a little revenge. I thought you'd approve."

She raised an eyebrow. "Not the kind of malicious revenge from when Merlin began working here?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, Morgana, nothing of the prank war kind, I promise. Although, now that I mention it, could you help me with something?"

"Depends what it is, dear brother."

Arthur leaned in close and told her his plans, and she immediately agreed.

\---

Camelot High's Valentine's Day tradition of being able to buy and send anonymous roses and serenades for the students and even the teacher's was back in full swing. Students wandered the school grounds carrying roses wrapped in wet paper towel or stuck into water bottles, and Arthur spotted the group of senior students who were doing the serenades, all dressed in their camp red and pink gear. He also noted that they had a few feather boa's on them, and the red cowboy hat he remembered from last year had made a return. He could not wait until lunchtime rolled around, so his revenge could play out. 

When the bell finally did ring, he let his class out as quickly as possible, not wanting to miss out on his revenge. It would be utterly devastating if he wasn't able to watch as Merlin was mortified beyond measure.

On his way down, Morgana joined him.

"You're eager."

"This is payback for the suffering that damn serenade he bought me and video he recorded has put me through. It's only fair," he argued before Morgana would say something about how bad the idea was.

"Oh, I never said it wasn't justified. But I know Merlin, and he's not so easily tricked."

"This is the man I had a full on prank war with. Not to mention I know him rather well now, I think. This is entirely fool-proof," he said, marching on in his determined mind set.

"And predictable," she mumbled under her breath.

Arthur arrived in the Performing Arts Centre (PAC) and headed straight for the drama classroom, looking to see where Merlin was. The room was empty, which means he must've let his class go already. That was fair, the bell had gone off not too long ago. So his next port of call was the drama teachers' prep room. He poked his head into the room but Merlin wasn't in there either. That was odd. Arthur knew he had a class just before Tuesday lunchtime, and it was always held down here. He certainly hadn't heard otherwise, and surely if Merlin had headed up to the staff room Arthur would have seen him on the way.

"No luck, dear brother?" Morgana asked, heels clicking in her wake.

"Not yet," he scowled, determined that he would not be foiled!

 He stormed straight into the main auditorium, through the double doors and the curtains in the hopes that perhaps Merlin had taken his class in there.

He was not disappointed. Although maybe a little confused.

The house lights were down, but he could make out the hundreds of students filling out the seats of the auditorium, as well as plenty of teacher's who were curious about the spectacle. 

Before he could take in anything more, he was hit with a bright spotlight. He blinked and threw a hand up, trying to adjust to the bright light that was suddenly on him. What the bloody hell was going on? Arthur hadn't been notified of any kind of performance.

"Mr Pendragon, as you requested," a senior student, Ellie, started into the microphone.

"Huh?" he said, looking towards the stage. Everything then clicked.

"1 serenade for Mr Emrys. Lunchtime, in front of as many people as possible," she read out his instructions, and gestured to the large audience. "The most embarrassing song we can sing, please. Justin Bieber's 'Baby' would be a perfect choice. He must wear a feather boa and some other humiliating form of headwear. That hideous red cowboy hat with the tiara from last year is perfect. Show. No. Mercy."

Arthur groaned as laughter struck up from the crowd of students and teachers. At this point, he definitely felt far more humiliated than Merlin probably did, who was sitting up on the stage looking incredibly smug. Indeed, he was wearing the cowboy hat and the feather boa, but he leaned back in the chair and completely owned it.

Behind him, Morgana snickered. Great, a reminder that his request to film it was definitely in action.

"We saved the best seat for you, Mr Pendragon," Ellie said, pointing to one in the very front row and in the middle of the stage.

Arthur gulped, walking forward with slow, tentative steps until he reached the seat and sat down, bracing himself for the worst.

One of the senior boys, started strumming his guitar, the chords of Justin Bieber's 'Baby'. The small group jumped in and started singing on their cue. 

 _"You know you love me, I know you care_  
_Just shout whenever and I'll be there_  
_You are my love, you are my heart_  
_And we will never, ever, ever be apart"_

As they sang, Arthur did notice as Merlin started to squirm and blush under the many eyes that were watching him. After all, having a group of students sing rather...close to you was somewhat off putting. Around him, people were giggling at the spectacle.

 _"And I was like baby, baby, baby oh_  
_Like baby, baby, baby no_  
_Like baby, baby, baby oh_  
_I thought you'd always be mine (Mine)_  
Baby, baby, baby oh  
_Like baby, baby, baby no..."_

While the rest of them finished singing the chorus, Ellie spoke over the top of them. 

"So, Mr Emrys, this is your Valentine's gift from Mr Pendragon. We were wondering if you got him anything in return." As she said that, she turned to the audience and waggled her eyebrows. There was an uproar from the student body, including a couple of wolf whistles.

The music stopped abruptly. From the side, a small band was suddenly lit up and then a quiet hum of music began. The rest of the senior students moved back to join what looked to be a small...choir?

It was then that he noticed that Merlin was wearing one of the headset microphones, like they had used for the musical. He stood up, tossed away the cowboy hat and the feather boa as he moved to the front of the stage. What the hell was he doing?

_["My gift is my song!"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REGzrwMj_N4) _

It boomed around the whole auditorium, silencing everyone. Merlin bit his lip, pressing on, looking straight at Arthur.

Singing more quietly, he added, _"...and this one's for you."_

Arthur's heart stuttered, and his breath was completely taken away. Of course Merlin would figure this out and turn the tables completely. Of course he would sing 'Your Song' from 'Moulin Rouge!', one of Arthur's favourites and what they were going to see tonight. 

 _"And you can tell everybody this is your song_  
_It may be quite simple but now that it's done_  
_I hope you don't mind_  
_I hope you don't mind_  
_That I put down in words..."_

Arthur was completely mesmerised, as he captivated the whole audience with his strong, amazing voice.

Looking directly at Arthur again, he sang what was Arthur's favourite line from the whole damn musical, and he felt rather overwhelmed with emotion.

_"How wonderful life is, now you're in the world."_

The band came to life, the choir students on the stage swaying along to the music. Merlin started walking down the stairs towards the front row of seats, singing as he did.

 _"I sat on the roof and I kicked off the moss_  
_Well some of these verses, well they've got me quite cross_  
_But the sun's been quite kind_  
_While I wrote this song_  
_It's for people like you that_  
_Keep it turned on..."_

He hit the bottom of the stairs and walked towards Arthur, attention on him and him only, as though they were the only ones in the auditorium together. 

 _"So excuse me forgetting_  
_But these things I do_  
_You see I've forgotten_  
_If they're green or they're blue..."_

Arthur couldn't help but give a rather watery smile as Merlin came closer. They were almost touching, and Merlin was able to grab Arthur's hands.

 _"Anyway the thing is, what I really mean_  
_Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen,"_ he sang, gently caressing Arthur's face.

But he was pulled out of the moment a second later, as Merlin hauled him out of the seat, and pulled him up onto the stage. Arthur started blushing, aware of the sudden attention on them as the band reached the crescendo and the choir sang their backing vocals. On the stage, Merlin grabbed a hold of his wrists, arm over arm and spun them around in circles until Arthur was dizzy and light-headed, though from more than just spinning. 

They slowed down, just before Merlin launched into the next part of the song. Around them, one of Merlin's drama classes came out and started dancing around them. This was more than a serenade, it was a full on show!

Merlin looked out towards the audience, singing with passion like any good musical would be sung.

 _"And you can tell everybody this is your song_  
_It may be quite simple but now that it's done_

Everything came to a slow, as the dancers moving offstage, the choir stopped their vocals and the band quietened down. 

 _I hope you don't mind_  
_I hope you don't mind_  
_That I put down in words..."_

He looked towards Arthur, and it was as though he could no longer breath.

_"How wonderful life is, now you're in the world."_

_I hope you don't mind_  
_I hope you don't mind_  
_That I put down in words..._

 _How wonderful life is....now you're in the world!"_ Merlin sang the last line, hitting the final crescendo of the song. 

As the song slowed down, he wrapped his arms around Arthur, pulling him in close with a large smile on his face. Arthur could only hope that whoever was up in the top box had switched the microphone off, because he didn't think he could hold himself back any longer. He launched himself at Merlin's lips, trying to keep it fairly PG for the students watching as he kissed him again, and again, unable to stop. Merlin unabashedly kissed back, despite his normal reluctance for doing so at their workplace and especially in front of students. The audience cheered and roared in the background, as the two remained lost in their own little world. 

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" the headmaster's voice roared.

Pushing Merlin away and stumbling back, Arthur turned his head to see his father standing at the top of the PAC stairs, face red as he fumed.

All the students fell quiet, and the teachers who were able to vanish disappeared in an instant. 

"You two. My office. Now," he growled at Arthur and Merlin, and left promptly. Immediately after, the student body scattered from the PAC quickly.

Arthur gulped, dread settling in the pit of his stomach. Shit. This was not going to be good.

Next to him, Merlin was looking a little pale, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. He removed the headset mic and left it on the chair. 

"Maybe this was a bit overboard," he said, looking nervously at Arthur.

"If it wasn't for the fact that my father would kill us if we kissed, I would absolutely kiss you again. I...I loved that, Merlin. You were amazing," he told him as openly and honestly as he could. He grabbed Merlin's hand, intertwining their fingers and giving a reassuring squeezing.

"You're sure it wasn't too much?"

"I wouldn't do it every year, but once in a blue moon can't hurt," Arthur chuckled. Merlin gave him a nervous smile in return and hand in hand, they went to face Headmaster Pendragon.

\---

Uther let them off this time with a warning, and they were ushered off to their next classes fairly quickly. Arthur could hardly concentrate, his mind drifting to the events of lunchtime. His students were much the same, not able to stop chatting and giggling about it. 

When the day had finished and they met at their car, Arthur made sure to snog the absolute life out of Merlin. 

"You know I love you, right?" he said, breaking away from the kiss. Merlin just smiled.

"I know, and if I knew that singing 'Your Song' would have this affect on you I would've done it sooner."

Arthur chuckled, and leaned in again, pressing Merlin up against the car. Eventually Merlin pulled away, much to Arthur's disappointment.

"C'mon, let's go home so we can do this properly. And then get ready for tonight," he said, moving so that he could get in the car. 

Later, as they were watching the musical play out in front of their eyes, Arthur leaned his head on Merlin's shoulder when the actor sang 'Your Song'. He absolutely certain this had been the best Valentine's Day ever, even if his revenge hadn't quite gone to plan. 

**Author's Note:**

> Look. I don't know what happened. It started off as being a kinda rom com premise and turned into a full on fucking serenade from Merlin and well...I couldn't help myself. Bc Arthur is a total sap, let's be real. And Merlin would absolutely sing musical songs to him. OK? OK. 
> 
> This was pure cheese so I'm very very sorry for putting you through it.


End file.
